Apparatus for handling glassware articles



Jan. 8, 1963' G. H. ALLGEYER APPARATUS FOR HANDLING GLASSWARE ARTICLESFiled Sept. 15, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 K F; m f l 2, Wm T T y m Mm m% 43% QM \N W o A A a m N\ F BF FF \L kfi m Jan. 8, 1963 G. H. ALLGEYER3,072,240

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING GLASSWARE ARTICLES Filed Sept. 15, 1958 4Sheets-Sheet 2 100 e Ki M y INVENTOR BY )ldJw a1 4. Jzdwi ATTORNEYS 1963G. H. ALLGEYER 3,072,240

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING GLASSWARE ARTICLES Filed Sept. 15, 1958 4Sheets-Sheet 3 LEHR MAT y ,Qzwze w. 4. Jhw

ATTORNEYS Jan. 8, 1963 G. H. ALLGEYER 3,072,240

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING GLASSWARE ARTICLES Filed Sept. 15, 1958 4Sheets-Sheet 4 I .6477? *MZZQW E4; Lww

[as 2 5:2; ,1 72414 2 a ATTORNEYS United States Patent fifice 3,972,249Patented Jan. 8, 1963 3,072,240 APPARATUS FOR HANDLING GLAdSWAREARTHILES Guy H. Allgeyer, Godfrey, 111., assignor to Owens-IllinoisGlass Company, a corporation of Ohio Filed Sept. 15, 1958, Ser. No.761,114 9 Claims. (6]. 198-30) The present invention relates to handlingglassware articles formed by machine, and more particularly, to amachine for transferring successively formed glassware articles from areceiving station, such as the finishing mold bottom plates, to adelivery station, such as a moving conveyor of a lehr, and depositingthem on the latter in a predetermined pattern and position oforientation.

The present invention is an improvement of the apparatus disclosed andclaimed in my copending application, Ser. No. 740,020, filed June 5,1958.

With reference to that application, it should be noted that the methodfor transfer of the articles from a receiving station to a deliverystation is accomplished by removing the ware from the plural moldmechanisms of the machine in individual transfer paths, each of thesepaths being of different length. The Ware is then deposited on separaterows moving on a horizontal surface at the delivery station to completeeach transfer so that individual rows may be formed of ware transferredfrom each molding mechanism. Also, the apparatus therein disclosed forperforming such transfer includes transfer devices employing a pivotaltransfer arm on each, the transfer arms of all the devices being unequalin length and pivoted about individual horizontal axes spaced atdifferent distances from the molds of the plural sections of the machinewhich the transfer devices are servicing. As illustrated on the drawingsin the aforementioned disclosure,

a 6-section IS machine will require six different sizes of mountingsupports for achieving the variation in spacing of the horizontal axesof the transfer arms from their respective mold bottom plates of theforming mechanisms of the machine, and siX difierent length transferarms. This will require keeping a stock of six dilferent sets of theseparts for maintaining and repairing the transfer devices. Obviously, ona S-section machine, five sets of parts must be kept on hand, etc.

The present invention provides for and includes as one of its objects,improved apparatus for taking formed ware from the finishing molds ofthe plural section forming machine and placing the ware directly on amoving lehr mat or conveyor and in individual rows, the transfer of theware from its mold at each section of the machine being effected inindividual paths of movement, and each of these paths being ofsubstantially the same length. The present invention, therefore,provides for the utilization of transfer devices at each section of themachine that are similarly constructed and the parts of eachinterchangeable so as to obviate the above-mentioned problem connectedwith keeping a multiplicity of stocks of various sized parts. Under thepresent invention, the transfer devices are capable of being easily andmore economically maintained.

Anotherob 'ect of the invention, taken in conjunction with the foregoingobject, is the provision for moving the lehr mat past the sections ofthe machine successively in a direction that is 'angularly divergentfrom the alignment of the molds of the successive sections of the pluralsection machine so that the ware being transferred through equal lengthpaths from each section after forming at each section of the machinewill be delivered to the lehr mat at different lateral locationsthereon, thus forming individual rows of were being advanced from theirde livery station after successive transfers from each section of themachine.

be rotated an additional angular amount beyond the rotation thereofperformed in my copending application. For example, if double gobbingoperation is being performed on the machine and each pair of bottlesbeing transferred is to be placed into the same longitudinal row on thelehr conveyor, the ware must be rotated plus or minus the angularrelationship between the longitudinal alignment of the molds on themachine and the direction of travel of the lehr conveyor.

Furthermore, it has been found that during this orientation, rotation ofthe ware for turning it about its longitudinal axe during transfer fromthe mold to the conveyor must be performed in a relative short span ofthat transferring movement so that sufficient movement during transferhas taken place in order that the ware clears the mold before turningmovement begins and turning movement ends prior to delivery of the wareto the conveyor. By turning the bottles through a drive mechanism havingcharacteristics of velocity conforming to a sine wave or contiguouslyaccelerating and decelerating turning movement will tend, through thecentrifugal period of constant velocity and ending with a contiguousperiod of deceleration.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved drivemechanism in the transfer device for performing the novel rotation ofthe Ware about its own vertical axis during the transfer.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent from areading of the following description of a practical embodiment, theappended claims, and the accompanying drawings of said embodiment towhich reference is made and in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial plan view of a 6-section IS glass forming machinewhich illustrates one form of novel apparatus utilized for performingthe improved bottle turning method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view, partly .in section, of one section ofthe machine, and is taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevational view 3--3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the transfer arm of one of the transferdevices of the present invention and its rotational drive mechanism forrotating the tongs mechanisnrfor effecting the improved rotational orturning movement of the ware during transfer. The transfer arm andassociated drive mechanism for the tongs mechanism is shown in itsextreme operating positions, one being at the mold position or the warereceiving station and the other at the lehr position or the waredelivery station.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the details of the improved rotationaldrive mechanism, as viewed at the intermediate position during swingingmovement of the transfer arm between the mold position and the lehrposition.

PEG. 6 is a graph showing the comparison of angular velocity betweenturning a bottle during transfer under taken along line the improvementof the present invention and similarly FIG. 7 is a sectional view takenalong line 7-7 on FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8-8 on FIG. 3.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 8 but showing therelationship of the parts when the tongs are at the mold positiongripping the ware ready for transfer.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line 10-10 on FIG. 3.

The present invention, in one novel form, is adapted to take ware from ablow mold of the forming machine and. put it directly onto a moving beltof a lehr conveyor which is arranged to travel past the moldssuccessively and thence through an annealing lehr. The transfer isaccomplished without intermediate handling of the ware. In the use ofhigh speed glassware forming machines, such as the well-knownHartford-Empire IS machine, having a plurality of ware formingmechanisms or sections, the lehr loading operation necessitates variousoperations during transferring movement for orienting the ware on theconveyor, as well as providing for a properly timed transfer.

As seen from FIG. 1, the final or blow mold side of a 6-section ISmachine is shown, each section having a ware forming mechanism whichincludes a gob delivery mechanism, a blank mold, and cooperating neckring, none of these being shown but may be readily understood byreference to US. Patent No. 1,911,119, issued to H. W. Ingle. The neckring is carried on an invert mechanism 10 (FIG. 2) which is pivotedsequentially about a pivot 11 to successively bring the blank or parisonshapes of glass to final blow molds 12. In FIG. 2, the final blow moldsare illustrated as double cavity molds, the operation of which isgenerally known in the glass forming industry as double gobbingoperation or double gob'oing molds. The blow molds 12 are open andclosed according to a timed operational cycle of the forming mechanismto form finished containers 13. The formed containers, when the moldsare open, are supported on mold bottom plates 14 in an upright positionso that their central axes are vertical.

This same type of forming machine is often operated for single gobbingoperation by use of single gobbing or single cavity molds, in which casethe containers 13 are formed one at a time. In my above-referred tocopending application, such a single gobbing transfer device iscompletely described, and for the purposes of the present invention, thesame tongs mechanism numbered therein 212 (FIG. 20) may be substitutedfor the tongs mechanism described herein for effecting transfer of wareon a machine such as that illustrated in the drawings of the presentinvention in which double gobbing operation is illustrated.

On FIG. 1, the plurality of forming mechanisms of the 6ssection ISmachine is designated by the reference letters A-E. The machine includesa longitudinally disposed beam or frame member 18 which is parallel toand overlies the longitudinally aligned finishing molds 12 of the sixforming mechanisms of the machine. Opposite each of the formingmechanisms AF are alike bracket members 19 which are integrallyconnected to the overhead frame member 18 and project horizontallyoutwardly to form the same amount.

At the outer end of each bracket member 19 is an adjustable mounting forattaching the glassware transfer tdevice, referred to generally at 15,which device will be presently described. Each mounting is constructedsimilarly and includes a vertical slideway in the bracket 19, andcooperating T-slide. The T-slide is integrally connected with thevertical frame casting 23 (FIG. 2) which houses the cylinder-pistonmotor 31 of the transfer device This mounting assembly for each of thetransfer devices on their bracket 19 is fully disclosed in detail in myaforementioned copending application. The one difference in thismounting in the present :device resides in the fact that each of thebrackets 19 projects horizontally from the frame member 18 the samedistance so that the pivot point (horizontal axis) 70 for each of thetransfer devices 15 is aligned parallel to the blow mold bottom plates14 of the various forming mechanisms A-F.

With the above description describing the setting for the improvement ofthe present invention, one of its novel features will now be described.As indicated on FIG. 2 which shows an elevational section of thetransfer device 15 for servicing forming mechanism or section F of the6-section IS machine, each transfer device 15 includes a transfer armwhich is pivotally mounted for swinging about a horizontal axis or shaft70. The swinging movement of arm 80 is performed through the actuationof the vertically reciprocating cylinder-piston motor 30, which isactuated and controlled in the same manner as described in myaforementioned copending application.

The arm 30 of each transfer device 15 is driven in oscillating cyclesbetween its ware receiving position over its corresponding mold bottomplate 14 and over the upper span 25 of a lehr mat or belt conveyor. Thislehr mat or conveyor surface 25 is adapted to travel through anannealing lehr chamber, thence through a cooling area and finally to asorting or unloading area where the annealed and cooled ware is removed.As mentioned before, the lehr mat span 25 is arranged to travel inendless fashion in a direction of movement which is at a predeterminedacute angular relationship with the center line of the longitudinalalignment of the final blow molds 12 of the forming mechanisms orsections A--F of the forming machine. This angular relationship isdesignated by the Greek symbol theta on FIG. 1 of the drawings. Since,as mentioned, each of the transfer paths of ware transferred from theirforming sections is alike, the size of the angle theta will determinethe lateral spacing between the rows A-F 0f ware (bottles 13 on FIG. 1)being delivered to the lehr mat 25 by the transfer devices 15. Thus, thespacing between the rows AF may be determined as a function ofhorizontal distance between centers of two adjacent molds 12 times thesine of the angle theta. For example, one arrangement found to bepractical for unloading small narrow neck bottles is to cant orangularly dispose the travel of the lehr mat 25 at an acute angle of 77'(the angle theta) as measured from a line parallel to a center linealong the longitudinal alignment of the plural molds 12. On the standardIS machine this will result in a center-to-center spacing of the warebetween the rows AF' of 2 inches, measured laterally on the lehr mat 25.

During operation of the forming machine, the bottles 13 are brought insuccession to the ware receiving position on the mold bottom plates 14and after the molds 12 open the bottles are upright and ready fortransfer. The bottles are grasped and picked up by a double pair oftransfer tongs 125 carried at the lower end of the transfer mechanismand then removed from the mold bottom plates by actuation of the armiii! in a clockwise swinging movement about horizontal axis 711. Thetransfer requires a certain amount of swinging movement to clear themold mechanism, which, in the usual case, is about 40 of rotation of thearm 80. During the transfer, the ware is held upright and after itclears the mold, is rotated about a vertical axis for turning the wareto an orienting position ready for delivery in a row on the lehr mat 25.This rotation becomes necessary if the machine is operating for doublegobbing operation or if producing irregularly shaped ware, such aspanels, by either single or double gobbing operation. In the case ofirregularly shaped ware, it is placed in a line or row, such as rowsA-F, with the greater dimension of the ware aligned with the directionof movement of conveyor 25. This will achieve maximum stability againstupset of the ware in the direction of lehr mat travel. Also, efficientorganization of the rows of the ware transferred from the varioussections of the multiple section machine is important. For example, toconserve space on the lehr mat and permit the most eflicient operationof the lehr, the ware must be loaded compactly. Prior to the release ofthe ware to the lehr and during transferring movement, it iscontemplated in this invention to also orient one article with the otheras the double-gob Ware is being placed in a single row, such as, byclosing the center distance between the pair of bottles undergoingtransfer by a horizontal movement of the bottles toward each other.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the details of the mechanism for turning theware during the swinging movement of the transfer arm 80 will bedescribed. In connection with this descritpion, only a summary of theconstruction of the mechanism will be herein mentioned, and a moredetailed explanation and description of the mechanisms operation andconstruction may be found in my aforementioned copending application.

A tongs mechanism referred to generally at 150 is mounted at the outerend of transfer arm 80 of each of the transfer devices 15. The upperpart of the tongs mechanism 101), in the present invention, includes astar wheel drive unit comprising a star wheel driver 250 which is inmesh and adapted to be driven by a bevel gear tooth element 102 rigidlyheld at the outer end of the transfer arm 80 by cap screws 103. The starwheel driver 250 is pivoted on a vertical shaft 104 which is formed asan integral part of a casting 105. The tongs mechanism 1% is assembledto the transfer arm 80 by the shaft 85, which is also integrally cast asa part of casting 105, and shaft 85 is journaled through a bearing inspider casting 108 bolted to the arm 80, through the sprocket 88 andthrough arm 80 and held by nut 87.

Referring briefly to FIG. 5, the star wheel driver 250, as seen in planview, includes an arm segment 251. This arm segment has a pair of spacedapart and downwardly depending driver pins 252.

Referring again to FIG. 3, a hub 253 is rigidly connected, such as byscrew 254, within a cylindrical holder sleeve 114. The holder sleeve 114is trunnion mounted to the casting 105 by a connector bearing 115. Thecombination of the hub 253 being inserted in and held in place in sleeve114 forms a headend portion of a cylinder piston motor having a piston116 carried in the lower end (cylinder portion) of the holder sleeve114. The piston rod 117, which is attached to the lower side of piston116, is hollow and accommodates a cylindrical rod 118 which extendsthrough the piston. The upper end of rod 118 has a square end portionfitted with a wrench lever 119 (FIG. The wrench lever is rigidly held bythe casting 105 and held in place on the upper segment end of the rod118 by a nut 120.

The hub 253, as seen in FIG. 5, has an integral vertical extension whichforms a star wheel driven element. This driven element 255 has a pair ofslots 256 spaced to accommodate the driving pins 252. The slots 256 arecut and take the form of an epicycloid gear tooth.

As seen in FIG. 4, the transfer arm 89 will begin its swinging cycleduring transfer of ware at the mold position (left-hand side of HG. 4).Since the bevel gear segment m2 is held in a fixed rotationalrelationship with the hub 81, the gear segment 102 will drive the starwheel driver 250 clockwise. The star wheel mechanism is arranged so thatafter the arm 80 has swung through about 40 of rotation, one of thedriving pins 252 will enter in a nearby slot 256 of the driven element255. As the arm 8-3 continues to swing and continues to drive the starwheel .driver 259, the first of the driver pins 252 begins to impartrotation in the counterclockwise direction to the driven element 255which, as was previously mentioned, is connected rigidly with hub 253.The hub 253 being rigidly connected to the sleeve 114 will impart thiscounterclockwise rotation to the two pairs of tongs 125 holding bottle13. As long as only the one driving pin 252 is engaged in the slot 256,as mentioned, the driven element 255 will accelerate, beginning fromrest, in rotational or angular velocity. This acceleration will continueuntil the second driving pin 252 engages with its corresponding slot 256in element 255, at which time the driving connection between the starwheel driver 250 and the star wheel driven element 255 will impart aconstant angular velocity, as would a pair of meshing epicycloid gears.This constant period will begin after about 60 of swinging movement ofthe arm and will continue until the arm has rotated about of totalswinging rotation (see curve identified as S, FIG. 6). At thislatter-mentioned point, the first engaged driving pin 252 will divergeand leave its slot 256, at which time a period of deceleration willcommence. This deceleration will continue until the second engageddriving pin 252 disengages by divergence out of its slot 256. After thispoint, the driven element 255 will be at rest. The driven element 255 isheld against further rotation, such as by vibration, etc., by theconcave arcuate surface 257 fitting snugly against a hub 258 on theunderside of the star wheel driver 256 (see FIGS. 3, 4 and 5). Therotation or turning movement of the tongs and the ware held thereby iscompleted in the example illustrated on FIG. 4 when the arm has rotatedabout 140. During the remainder of the swinging movement, the star wheeldriver 250 rotates the driving pins 252 to the position shown at theright-hand side of FIG. 4.

During the transfer just described, the bottles are picked up with theircenters lying along a line that is parallel to the transfer arm, and,during movement, the described star wheel mechanism rotates the ware sothat their centers lie along a line that is parallel to the direction ofmovement of the lehr belt 25. At this point, the tongs release the wareto the conveyor and add the ware to the single file row on the properlehr mat. This turning movement or rotation amounts to 90 plus the angletheta or, for the example illustrated on FIG. 4 and in these drawings,977'.

It is believed that the justdescribed mechanism for rotating the tongsmechanism during ware transfer is especially significant in that it maybe constructed to impart rotation, during a swinging cycle of the arm,through an odd increment of a circle such as the angular dis placementillustrated herein (977). Other drive mechanisms, such as the Genevadrive, would be unable to perform such an odd increment of rotation,because of the almost impossible task to construct it.

A further advantage of the turning movement of the bottles according tothe present invention is illustrated on FIG. 6. On that FIGURE, theangular displacement or movement of the arm -80 in its swinging movementfrom its mold position to its lehr position is plotted along the abcissaand indicated in degrees. Angular velocity of the ware during itsturning movement is plotted along the ordinate. Two curves are shown onthe graph, the curve designated G representing the circumstances ofturning of the bottles during transfer when a contiguouslyaccelerated-decelerated type of drive is employed, for example, theGeneva type drive; and the other curve showing the circumstances of theturning velocity of the ware when a drive according to the presentinvention is employed. Since the two drives, represented by G and S, arecompared under the same conditions for turning ware, that is, turningmovement begins at the same point of angular displacement of arm 8% andit ends after the same amount of angular displacement of arm 8d, thearea under the curves G and S must be equal. It is, therefore, obviousby inspection of the curves that the contiguouslyaceelerated-decelerated type drive achieves a greater peak of angularvelocity of the bottle during the turning movement, whereas, under thetype of drive mechanism and method described for the present invention,the peak velocity is noticeably less. When ware transfer is performed,the glass in the ware has not yet had an opportunity to fully set-up orrigidity and, therefore, the articles are semi-plastic and deformablefrom their molded shape. This feature of the present invention isimportant from the standpoint, that on transferring larger ware, thereis less tendency for distorting or bending the hot articles of ware bythe centrifugal force exerted on them during the turning movement. Thecentrifugal force, as is well-known, would be measured as a function of:(l) the angular velocity of the bottle during its turning movement, and(2) the spacing or radius of the center of gravity of the bottle fromthe axis about which its turning movement is generated.

In the present invention for double gobbing operation, it is preferredto use the type tongs mechanism described in my aforementioned copendingapplication in which, during transferring movement, the pairs oftransfer tongs 125 are closed or moved toward each other by theirslideable mounting on the sleeve holder casting so as to decrease theware center distance when the arm 80 is swinging from the mold positionto the lehr position. The two pairs of tongs 125 are actuated by theslidercrank mechanism shown on FIGS. 810. Each of the two tongs haveslides 127 which receive tongues 128 bolted to the sleeve holder 114.The lower end of the rod 118 is connected to a slider-crank mechanism.The rod 118 is fixed and has a nonrotating crank 129 at its lower endcarrying a pair of crank pins 13d that are spaced thereon by 180. Thecrank pins are connected to links 131 and each link fits around the rod12?. of the two tongs. The tong slides 127 being slidable along thetongues 128 comprise the cross head or slider of the crank mechanism. Inoperation of the tongs mechanism Hill, as the star wheel driver 25drotates the tongs holder sleeve 114 by engagement of the pins 252 in theslots 256 of the star wheel driven element 2%, the tongs holder 114carries the tong slides 127 with it. The links 131 are attached betweenthe tong slides 127 and the rod 118, the latter being fixed ornonrotatable. This causes the tong slides to have their center distanceeither increased or decreased, depending upon the starting position ofthe sleeve holder 114 relative to the fixed rod 11%. In the illustratedform of the invention herein, the tongs mechanism is assembled andconstructed to decrease the ware center distance during swingingmovement of the transfer arm 80 from the mold position to the positionover the lehr mat. However, by simple change in the position of thecrank arms the ware center distance may be made to be increased duringsuch transfer movement from the mold to the lehr mat. FIG. 9 illustratesthe position of the slider-crank elements when the tongs are at the moldposition. FIG. 8 shows the position of the slider-crank elements whenthe tongs are transferred to the lehr mat position (FIG. 3) for deliveryof the ware. FIG. 10 shows the relationship of the lever 119 and itssquared end connection on the rod 15.8 for holding rod H8 in a fixed ornonrotatable position. The slotted portion 112a of the holder sleeve 114permits the necessary rotation of the sleeve with respect to the lever119 about the rod 118 during the oscillatory cycles of the transfer arm80. By utilizing this mechanism in the construction of the tongsmechanism ftltl in the present invention will allow compacting each pairof ware transferred into a given row on the lehr mat.

Each pair of tongs 125 operate to open and close about the necks of theware l3 and are normally held in their open position by spring pressure.As disclosed in my copending application, the tongs 125 are closed atthe proper time during the transfer cycle by the introduction of fluidpressure at the head end of the cylinder-piston motor in sleeve holder114. This pressure fluid is conducted to and from the cylinder-pistonmotor through a line 167 into the core of shaft 85, then alongconnecting axial bore 168 and through the hollow center of cylindricalmember 16%. At the proper point in the transfer cycle and when the wareis to be released, pres sure fluid is turned oil and exhausted from thehead end of this cylinder-piston motor, and the two pairs of transfertongs are allowed to open by the spring pressure.

In the foregoing description of the drawings, the same referencenumerals are used herein to identify parts of the mechanism as are usedto identify similar mechanism in the description contained in myaforementioned copending application.

It is contemplated that various modifications and arrangements may beresorted to, but it is intended that a patent granted hereon should notbe limited otherwise than by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a glassware transfer device having a horizontal axis and an armpivoted therea'oout to transcribe an arcuate path from at position overa ware receiving station to overlie a ware delivery station and return,means for driving the arm through said arcuate path in oscillatingfashion, a tongs mechanism pivotally mounted at the outer end of the armon a horizontal shaft and including at least one pair of tongs adaptedto open and close about articles of ware for transferring ware, andmeans for maintaining said shaft in fixed rotational relationship withrespect to the horizontal axis to maintain the axis of the tongsvertical at all times, the improvement for rotating the tongs mechanismduring pivotal movement of the arm, said improvement including a meansfor mounting the tongs for rotation about a vertical axis duringmovement of the arm comprising a casting rigidly connected with saidhorizontal shaft and including a vertical pivot, a gear element mountedstationary with respect to the arm, a star wheel driver gear rotatableon said vertical pivot in engagement with said gear element, anddefining a pair of spaced, radial drive slots and a star wheel drivenelement including a pair of drive pins radially spaced thereoncomplementary to said drive slots and engageable in the latter, saiddrive means being connected to said tongs, said drive pins being adaptedto mesh with said slots throughout a portion of rotation of the driverin either direction to drive the tongs through a predetermnied angulardisplacement fore oscillatory movement of the arm is completed.

2. The improved transfer device defined in claim 1, characterized by thefact that rotational movement of the tongs in either direction duringdriving engagement of said drive pins and said drive slots comprises aninitial period of acceleration, a substantial intermediate period ofconstant velocity, and a final period of deceleration.

3. In a ware transfer mechanism of the class described having a transferarm mounted for pivotal movement in a vertical plane about a horizontalaxis, and adapted to carry near its outer end a ware tongs mechanismoperable to open and close about an article of ware for trans ferring itfrom a receiving station to a delivery station, the improvementcomprising means for rotatably mounting the tongs mechanism near theouter end of said arm for maintaining the tongs mechanism vertical atall times and permitting rotation of the tongs mechanism about itsvertical axis, a gear driving element nonrotatably attached on the arm,a star wheel driver gear rotatably mounted on the arm in meshingengagement with said driving element during pivotal movement of said armin either direction, said driver gear defining a pair of radial driveslots, and a star wheel driven gear including a pair of drive pinsmatching said drive slots and connected to the tongs mechanism forrotating the latter about its vertical axis, said drive pins engagingthe slots of said driver gear throughout a predetermined portion ofmovement of the latter for imparting a predetermined amount of rotationto the tongs mechanism during pivotal movement of said arm in a givendirection, said drive slots and drive pins being constructed on saiddriver and driven gears to provide rotational movement of the tongs,said movement having an initial acceleration, an intermediate constantvelocity and a deceleration, the period of said constant velocityexceeding the periods of said acceleration and deceleration.

4. The improvement defined in claim 3, wherein the tongs mechanismincludes two pairs of tongs in horizontally disposed side-by-siderelationship, both said pairs of tongs being slidably mounted on theframe of the tongs mechanism, and means connected to each pair of tongsfor moving them horizontally in said slide mounting with respect to eachother during rotation of the tongs mechanism about its vertical axis tochange the horizontal spacing between the articles of ware held thereby,said means comprising a crank rotatably mounted with respect to saidtongs mechanism, and individual links connected to said crank and eachsaid pair of tongs, and means connecting said crank and the arm forholding said crank against rotation on the axis of said tongs mechanism.

5. The improvement defined in claim 4, wherein said means for moving thearticles of ware horizontally with respect to each other is constructedso that the crank is held to extend the links and separate the pairs oftongs to an original spaced apart relationship at the delivery stationand, upon rotation of the tongs mechanism as the arm is being swungtoward the delivery station, slide said tongs toward each other andclose their spacing, whereby the articles of ware are placed in acompacted orienta tion at the delivery station.

6. In a plural mold glassware forming machine having a plurality oflongitudinally aligned spaced Ware forming mechanisms, each including afinal blowing mold and mold bottom support, a ware transfer device ateach ware forming mechanism and having a transfer arm pivoted about ahorizontal axis, said devices having arms of uniform length and saidhorizontal axes aligned longitudinally parallel to the alignment of theware forming mechanisms, Ware gripping means carried at the outer end ofeach of the arms adapted to be opened and closed for gripping andretaining ware, independent means for pivoting each of the arms betweena position over the mold of its ware forming mechanism for gripping wereby said gripping means and a position horizontally disposed from themolds where gripped ware is released, and a conveyor traveling past thesaid ware forming mechanisms in an angular relationship with respect tothe longitudinal alignment of said forming mechanisms and in underlyingrelationship to ware held by said gripping means at said horizontallydisposed positions, said conveyor in co-operation with saidlongitudinally aligned, uniform length transfer arms receivingtransferred ware in upright position to form plural, spaced apart,single file rows of ware on the conveyor.

7. The combination defined in claim 6, wherein the final blowing moldsare longitudinally aligned parallel with the alignment of saidmechanisms, the Ware being delivered-to the conveyor from each of saidmolds in an individual row thereon, the spacing between adjacent rowsbeing defined as the sine of the angular relationship be-- tween thedirection of travel of the rows on the conveyor and the longitudinalalignment of the molds multiplied by the horizontal spacing betweensuccessive molds wherein the Ware in the rows was formed.

8. In a plural section glassware forming machine, each section having afinal mold defining a cavity for the production of ware, said finalmolds being longitudinally aligned on the machine, the combinationtherewith of an oscillatory transfer device operatively associated witheach said section of the machine and including a transfer arm, ahorizontal pivot for said arm and means connected to said arm andoperated to drive the latter in oscillatory fashion between the formingmold and a horizontally disposed delivery position, all the transferarms of said devices being of the same length to effect Ware transfersof equal horizontal distance, said pivots for said arms being alignedparallel with said longitudinally aligned molds, and said deliverypositions being similarly aligned parallel with said aligned molds, anda conveyor horizontally disposed to travel successively past said moldsin an angular direction with respect to their said longitudinalalignment and in angular underlying relationship to said aligneddelivery positions to receive the transferred ware from the saidsections of the machine, said conveyor in cooperation with thelongitudinally aligned molds and transfer arm pivots and the uniformlength transfer arms forming plural, spaced apart, discrete, single filerows of ware on the conveyor by successive transfers.

9. The combination defined in claim 8, characterized by the fact thateach mold includes a pair of final molding cavities producing ware inpairs to stand upright with their vertical axes spaced along a lineperpendicular to the longitudinal alignment of said molds, and each saidware transfer device includes means for rotating the ware gripping meansabout a vertical axis parallel to the vertic-al axes of each pair ofware articles after being gripped by said gripping means at the mold butprior to release by said gripping means, the rotation being sufficientto align the said vertical axes of said pair of ware along the directionof travel of the conveyor, whereupon release of the Ware by the grippingmeans of the separate transfer devices will advance said ware on theconveyor in individual single file rows.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,514,333 Ooms Nov. 4, 1924 1,691,497 Rowe Nov. 13, 1928 1,772,734Romine Aug. 12, 1930 1,849,038 Ingle Mar. 8, 1932 1,850,968 Morton Mar.22, 1932 1,869,622 Rowe Aug. 2, 1932 1,905,476 Lorenz Apr. 25, 19331,911,119 Ingle May 23, 1933 1,958,846 Christensen May 15, 19341,999,742 Smith Apr. 30, 1935 2,253,155 Wadman Aug. 19, 1941 2,556,469Dahms June 12, 1951 2,696,918 Arelt Dec. 14, 1954 2,914,162 Anger Nov.24, 1959

1. IN A GLASSWARE TRANSFER DEVICE HAVING A HORIZONTAL AXIS AND AN ARMPIVOTED THEREABOUT TO TRANSCRIBE AN ARCUATE PATH FROM AT POSITION OVER AWARE RECEIVING STATION TO OVERLIE A WARE DELIVERY STATION AND RETURN,MEANS FOR DRIVING THE ARM THROUGH SAID ARCUATE PATH IN OSCILLATINGFASHION, A TONGS MECHANISM PIVOTALLY MOUNTED AT THE OUTER END OF THE ARMON A HORIZONTAL SHAFT AND INCLUDING AT LEAST ONE PAIR OF TONGS ADAPTEDTO OPEN AND CLOSE ABOUT ARTICLES OF WARE FOR TRANSFERRING WARE, ANDMEANS FOR MAINTAINING SAID SHAFT IN FIXED ROTATIONAL RELATIONSHIP WITHRESPECT TO THE HORIZONTAL AXIS TO MAINTAIN THE AXIS OF THE TONGSVERTICAL AT ALL TIMES, THE IMPROVEMENT FOR ROTATING THE TONGS MECHANISMDURING PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF THE ARM, SAID IMPROVEMENT INCLUDING A MEANSFOR MOUNTING THE TONGS FOR ROTATION ABOUT A VERTICAL AXIS DURINGMOVEMENT OF THE ARM COMPRISING A CASTING RIGIDLY CONNECTED WITH SAIDHORIZONTAL SHAFT AND INCLUDING A VERTICAL PIVOT, A GEAR ELEMENT MOUNTEDSTATIONARY WITH RESPECT TO THE ARM, A STAR WHEEL DRIVER GEAR ROTATABLEON SAID VERTICAL PIVOT IN ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID GEAR ELEMENT, ANDDEFINING A PAIR OF SPACED, RADIAL DRIVE SLOTS AND A STAR WHEEL DRIVENELEMENT INCLUDING A PAIR OF DRIVE PINS RADIALLY SPACED THEREONCOMPLEMENTARY TO SAID DRIVE SLOTS AND ENGAGEABLE IN THE LATTER, SAIDDRIVE MEANS BEING CONNECTED TO SAID TONGS, SAID DRIVE PINS BEING ADAPTEDTO MESH WITH SAID SLOTS THROUGHOUT A PORTION OF ROTATION OF THE DRIVERIN EITHER DIRECTION TO DRIVE THE TONGS THROUGH A PREDETERMINED ANGULARDISPLACEMENT ABOUT SAID VERTICAL PIVOT BY A FRACTION OF A FULLREVOLUTION, SAID ROTATIONAL MOVEMENT OF THE TONGS BEGINNING AFTEROSCILLATORY MOVEMENT OF THE ARM IS BEGUN AND ENDING BEFORE OSCILLATORYMOVEMENT OF THE ARM IS COMPLETED.